Is Winter Really That Wicked?

Yukoners are no stranger to harsh winters. However, we don’t mind it as we are used to the snow and the cold and we’ve found a way to adapt ourselves to this chilly side of mother nature.

For the cigar company CAO they decided to capture the essence of winter in the form of a cigar they called Wicked Winter. The label on the cigar depicts a Jack Frost-like figure with an evil grin snarling with an icy winter background behind him. If you’re living in a hot country where tobacco grows, perhaps your perception of winter is not a very positive one. This may be one of the reasons why CAO named the cigar Wicked Winter.

Of course winter does have its moments when it can be very cold and dismal. I myself can attest to this having had my car go down a 40 foot hill of snow one year. But winter also has it’s beautiful moments as well. When else would you be able to see the beauty of the northern lights?

Now, even though CAO has named the cigar Wicked Winter, its taste is anything but wicked. The tobacco used is from Nicaragua, Honduras, and the United States. To go with the cigar I decided to have a glass of white spiced rum. I think the natural flavours of the spice in the rum will enhance the flavours of Wicked Winter.

The first third of the cigar does have a very nice flavour. It is a little bit of a spice, but it’s not too harsh and has some subtle notes of cinnamon, which is always a nice surprise when smoking a cigar. As I continue to puff through the first third there’s also some nice hints of baking spice and a very soft pine taste. Normally, the pine taste might throw me off, but when combined with the cinnamon and the baking spice it does taste very nice.

The spiced rum is a little bit different and has a lighter taste from the gold colour spiced rums. In my opinion white rums are a little bit less bold on the taste buds compared to the dark rums, but the white rum when mixed with the cigar spice does have a very nice flavour.

Moving on to the second and third of the cigar. It takes on more of a spice flavour with cloves and perhaps a little bit of jasmine and a hints of cayenne spice, but once again don’t let the description of the spices deter you, it is a very nice combination. Now if we look back to another winter of 2015 specialty cigar release by CAO, called the Stingy Scrooge, the flavours of that cigar were nothing too impressive. However, when it comes to Wicked Winter I think a lot more care has gone into the selection of tobaccos thus producing a cigar that has a very good variety of flavours that work well to complement one another.

The last third of the cigar picks up some of the similar flavours of spice from the first third, but there are a few hints of sweetness. I'm not exactly sure which flavour is creating the sweetness, but it tastes very nice. Overall, whatever winter brings, this cigar from CAO will warm up your taste buds.